Direct growth of graphene integrated into electronic devices is highly desirable but difficult due to the nominal ~1000 °C chemical vapor deposition (CVD) temperature, which can seriously deteriorate the substrates. Here we report a great reduction of graphene CVD temperature, down to 50 °C on sapphire and 100 °C on polycarbonate, by using dilute methane as the source and molten gallium (Ga) as catalysts. The very low temperature graphene synthesis is made possible by carbon attachment to the island edges of pre-existing graphene nuclei islands, and causes no damages to the substrates. A key benefit of using molten Ga catalyst is the enhanced methane absorption in Ga at lower temperatures; this leads to a surprisingly low apparent reaction barrier of ~0.16 eV below 300 °C. The faster growth kinetics due to a low reaction barrier and a demonstrated low-temperature graphene nuclei transfer protocol can facilitate practical direct graphene synthesis on many kinds of substrates down to 50–100 °C. Our results represent a significant progress in reducing graphene synthesis temperature and understanding its mechanism.
EPFL scientists have greatly improved the operational stability of perovskite solar cells by introducing cuprous thiocyanate protected by a thin layer of reduced graphene oxide. Devices lost less than 5% performance when subjected to a crucial accelerated aging test during which they were exposed for more than 1000 hours to full sunlight at 60°C.
A group of Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana’s Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering have recently published their study in the Journal of Materials Chemistry which describes a new and sustainable approach to transfer graphene and recycle the copper substrate used in the production of graphene.
Sung Woo’s team utilized carbon dioxide for the process of electrochemical reduction of the interlayer between the substrate layer and the graphene formed by the chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Woo’s team of Researchers also utilized inexpensive food grade ethyl cellulose as a thin film handling layer for the transfer process instead of the polymeric thin films that are used in traditional processes. This inexpensive and environmentally friendly method described here could be an answer for large scale production of graphene.
The use of reverse osmosis desalination technology has gathered more and more usage and interest over the last few years. It is responsible for producing a large amount of fresh water for the growing populations around the world.
Despite their widespread usage, there are still fundamental issues that need to be addressed, and in an effort to expand this technology to more desalination plants worldwide, a team of Researchers from Australia and Egypt have created a new thin film nano-composite (TFNC) membrane to address the issues surrounding water flux, salt rejection and biofouling in these processes.
Secondary ion mass spectrometry, otherwise known as SIMS, is a well-established analytical technique for determining the elemental composition of a sample through ion bombardment and sputtering approaches.
A team of Researchers from Poland have now invented a new SIMS technique- Graphene Enhanced Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (GESIMS), currently patent pending (European patent application no. EP 16461554.4), is an adapted version of traditional SIMS methods which utilizes a graphene layer above the substrate’s surface and analyzes the ejected secondary anions through mass spectrometry.
The unique atom-thick form of carbon known as graphene continues to amaze Researchers studying it, and one of the latest graphene studies found electrons move like slow-pouring honey as they pass through the material.
When passing through metals, electrons move like golf balls on a miniature golf course, occasionally being reflected by imperfections in the metal. However, a new study from University of Manchester Scientists discovered electrons moving through graphene in a slow, flowing manner.
An international team of scientists headed by researchers from The University of Texas at Dallas and Hanyang University in South Korea have created high-tech yarns with the ability to produce electricity upon being twisted or stretched.
Considered to be a material that is approximately 200 times stronger than steel while also remaining one of the lightest materials on earth, graphene is a two-dimensional hexagonal allotrope of carbon, capable of a wide variety of useful, yet unusual properties.
Associate Professor of Physics, Salvador Barazza-Lopez, from the University of Arkansas, is part of a team that published a review article based on the properties of strained graphene and various other strained two-dimensional atomic materials in the esteemed Reports of Progress in Physics, a review-style journal published by the Institute of Physics in the United Kingdom that has a huge impact factor of 14.3.
The cathode of an electrochemical cell plays an essential role during a process known as a microbial electrosynthesis (MES) driven carbon dioxide reduction reaction. MES is a promising biochemical process which allows for an eco-friendly reduction of carbon dioxide into various carbon-based products.